london / sunday / 0511
my cats are confused, wondering what the hell i am doing up so early.
i've had Anna and Charlotte's third blog in my bag for a few days now, and it's time i put it up, so here you all go. look forward to the final chapter soon...
Travel tales from Melbourne to Sydney
On reflection the “GO saver fare” $2 plus taxes, was probably the wrong flight choice. Check in at 5.15am post Melbourne gig night, still hyped, the master plan was to go from our hotel to the airport and “sleep”. We can confirm zero shut eye was achieved, but some 4am airport photos were captured - Exhibit A:
We took the double decker tube train from the airport into Sydney, which was quite a travel experience. No doubt we blended seamlessly in with the commuters with our massive ruck sacks (day bags/carry on luggage) and trolley bags, plus the additional ruck sacks purchased to fit all our souvenirs (TAT) that has been purchased.
Sydney greeted us with a beautiful sunny & warm day. Factor 50 applied. We sat and enjoyed Hyde Park in the Sydney sunshine, before wandering to the venue and met up with yet more enthusiastic Keane-starved fans.
Metro Gig Night One - Friday 17th April 09:
The universal symbol for toilets - the golden arches - was right next to the venue, however, it is not every day the interior looks like this:
The most freezing venue we have experienced, air con clearly stuck on -15, but the warmest of crowds (LOL!) The Ivys cranked it up and performed a good set, a hometown gig we believe.
With much excitement from the crowd Sydney welcomed Keane and greeted them with note for note renditions from start to finish. Tom enjoyed a stage dive (gazelle-like) during Perfect Symmetry. NB: Keane crew looked a bit shocked and worried. Awwww... it was brilliant.
We thought the UTIS songs really went down a storm, NIMW, IIAW and CB all bringing the house down. Too soon it was Bedshaped. The crowd was left wanting more, and 5 mins of shouting and cheering continued, to no avail. We left happy.
Saturday 18th April 09:
7.30am at the Harbour Bridge - first climbers of the day, against all odds we arrived on time. It really is a “must do” in your lifetime, the views are spectacular, and you feel totally safe. We had excellent weather and could see for miles. Sadly no cameras are allowed but we did pay $65 for 4 “stunners of us” (we decided that these were for our eyes only - clearly working the woolly hat boiler suit look to the max).
Metro Gig Night Two
A complete LEGEND of a gig. Leaving So Soon and Strangers were great new additions to the set, we love the fact that the band keep mixing it up. After another stonking performance, tonight was the night for something special to happen - a second encore! Thank you Sydney for making it possible. We stood with jaws open wide, and tears in our eyes as the band stormed through an awe-inspiring performance of Under Pressure. They made two ladies extremely happy. Celebrity spot - Ronan Keating leaving the building.
We leave Sydney having met some wonderful people, and memories that will go on a lifetime. We HEART Sydney.
Sunday 19th April 09
Woke to glorious sunshine, and headed to Circular Quay - Sydney Opera House. Then took the ferry across to Manly, bit choppy in the middle, but well worth it. Manly is a surfers paradise, with stunning views of the city from North Head.
Anna & Charlotte
tokyo / friday / 1749
brisbane was a lot of fun. i left my camera at the hotel so borrowed jesse's and took a couple of pics that i'll upload as soon as i get them.
this place was opposite the studio in brisbane:
here are a few more pics from sydney. we spent the last day in a studio trying to get the tracks we've done with k'naan finished. lots of bass, piano and vocals. tim seems to enjoy dreaming up backing vocals that are ridiculously high, so we had soon shredded our voices. the tracks are sounding great. not sure what we're going to do with them yet, but it's really good to just be doing them for music alone, and we'll worry about the rest of it later.
tom and i went to see steve coogan in the evening - a very amusing trip through several of his comic creations, and we caught up with him after for a few drinks. he's a lovely man, and has a few good magic tricks up his sleeve too.
the world's most famous harbour?
me
can't beat a sign with a double meaning!
brisbane / tuesday / 1332
there's lots going on, in and outside of the world of keane at the moment.
this blog is pretty light hearted most of the time, but i want to start by talking more about Troy Anthony Davis, a prisoner on death row in georgia. quoting democracy now's headlines from friday:
In Georgia, a federal appeals court has rejected an appeal seeking a new trial for the death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis. Davis was convicted for the 1989 killing of a white police officer. Since the trial, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony. There is no direct physical evidence tying Davis to the crime scene. And three witnesses claim another man later admitted to the killing. Despite rejecting Davis’s appeal Thursday, the court said it would extend Davis’s stay of execution pending a final appeal before the Supreme Court.
please take the time to send the message to georgia governor, Sonny Perdue, via amnesty international:
for more information about the latest decision you can go to
www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090416004&lang=e
www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12689946
it is interesting to note that in the georgia federal appeals court judge Rosemary Barkett dissented, stating:
“To execute Davis, in the face of a significant amount of proffered evidence that may establish his actual innocence, is unconscionable and unconstitutional.
i guess some of you might wonder why this case matters to me. i have always been opposed to the death penalty - i think it is the ultimate torture. to see a person sent to die unnecessarily, at the hands of his fellow people, is just wrong.
there is some good news - on the evening of March 19th 2009, the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, signed a bill abolishing the death penalty in his state. i wish Sonny Perdue, and every other governor, and international leaders worldwide would have the guts to do the same.
richard
sydney / saturday / 1006
just got up, and will head out for a wander in a bit. apparently there's another harbour here somewhere... anyway, i have a second blog from anna and charlotte to upload for your viewing and reading pleasure. by the way, they only had 45 minutes sleep between melbourne and sydney - what dedication! thanks ladies!
MELBOURNE GIG DAY by Anna1976 and Charlotteh
Yet again we are in awe of just how nice the people of Australia are. Spent the afternoon, laughing and joking, exchanging Keano stories with a lovely bunch of Keane fans. We always love a sound check and it is even better when gems like Under Pressure are played - A possible for the people of Sydney?
The venue from the outside was “interesting” but the inside was great, with a two-tiered balcony.
The gig was once again rocking, with banter from the crowd again, including the “man love for Tom” - you know who you are that shouted that! Before we knew it the set was at the end, with the bars of Bedshaped ringing in our ears, we went “home” happy. Until Sydney.
Anna and Charlotte
sydney / friday / 1912
in my room waiting for a veggie burger... went for a wander after our one song soundcheck (our crew are so pro) and ended up in darling harbour just as the sun was going down (thanks for the tip, guys and gals who were queuing for the gig). here are a few pics from melbourne, and a couple from my wander round sydney, including a very cool fellow who was fishing in darling harbour with just a line.
the coffee in australia is really good, and this was the best so far - pellegrini's, right next to the show in melbourne.
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sydney
weird blue fountain
another classic sign
darling harbour
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melbourne airport / friday / 1146
some of you might have noticed that a couple of british fans, anna and charlotte, have made the trip to australia to see us here (and have a holiday too), and i thought it would be cool to invite them to be guest bloggers. anna's live photos are amazing - better than most that you see in the papers - and they have given me a few other pics of the places we are playing, so i'm going to upload a few words and pics from them too. thanks for doing it, ladies!
We come from a land down under: By Anna1976 and Charlotteh - UK Citizens
Literally 5 weeks in the planning we find ourselves down under. We are overwhelmed by the friendliness of the Australian people, some of whom have had a 5 year wait to see a band called Keane.
Here are a few photos of our journey so far...
Anna & Charlotte
We arrived in Perth to a sunny 29 degrees, factor 50 applied.
A snapshot in time makes a footpath of names leading to the Perth Wheel
Perth Esplanade - not bad for $15
Down to the river, into the lucky shag bar we go.... (we went down to the river)
Inspired by Richard Hughes
A welcome site after 12,000 miles
Fremantle street artist annual event - who needs Paul Daniels when you have nicknicholas.com?
Men in leotards, what more can I say?
Various photos from the Fremantle gig... see if you can spot Tim's reflection.
Gig review: From beginning to end it simply rocked, with chants of Keane Army flooding the room, Crystal Balls suddenly appearing on stage, it is official Australia LOVES Keane.
Melbourne:
View of Melbourne from the Arts Centre
Stunning building within Federation Square, Melbourne
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Flinders Street Train station Melbourne
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Street Art, Melbourne
melbourne airport / friday / 1111
great gig last night - i'm loving the australian audiences, though i should add there were plenty of people from other places too - was cool to meet some new zealanders, and plenty of brits abroad too.
melbourne was great - took a bunch of pics that i'll try to upload in sydney, but here's a pic from the great ocean road that i promised...
melbourne / thursday / 0851
still waking up early, but after a long sleep following an epic day off. just up the road from perth (whoops, that's that jet lag kicking in) melbourne is a town called torquay, next to another town called anglesey! apart from making for an amusing road sign for british people, it's the start of "the great ocean road". rob and adam hired motorbikes, and scott and i hired a car and drove out there. it's totally amazing, and worthy of about three days exploring. we only had a few hours so we only made it to apollo bay for some lunch then headed back, but it was totally amazing. the most spectacular road i've ever driven along, with bay after bay of empty sandy beaches, and amazing forests and wildlife. the smell of (i guess) eucalyptus trees was amazing. for some reason i can't upload pics at the moment, but i'll try again later. there are tons more on the internet if you want to see what it's like. next time i'm gonna do it properly and go the whole way along.
looking forward to tonight, if it's anything like perth - that was a really great show, and a stunning welcome to australia.
oh, and i just had the most amazing breakfast with jesse, at a place called the george street cafe. hands down one of the best breakfasts ever, and great coffee too, and in the most amazing neighbourhood - all old houses with huge balconies and rose gardens. stunning.
gonna wander into town in a bit and have a look round.
perth / monday / 2028
jet lag is strange. i woke up this morning after 8 hours asleep, and immediately felt really tired (it was coming up to late evening back in the uk). i'm sure the energy will be there for tonight's show, but i could hardly stay awake at soundcheck, let alone play the drums, as the fans outside might have noticed. it was the same yesterday - i had to go for a walk just to stay awake; my eyes had stopped working properly. i don't remember being this jet-lagged last time we were here. maybe my eyes were so tired because i watched the last 9 episodes of deadwood series 3 on the way out, and the whole of the second series of peep show. both utterly fabulous. deadwood makes me swear more and want to drink whisky (though in reality i can't stomach the stuff, and i already swear too much).
enough babbling... here are a few photos. haven't seen any snakes or spiders yet (thankfully), but here's what i have seen.
one of the world's richest known sources of vitamin b, apparently
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we flew in past some fierce looking bush fires, apparently very common out this way, especially with the terrible drought.
weirdly prison-like apartment block, til you see the bmx
perth is a very modern city, with a quite american feel to some of the buildings. it's very clean, and has tons of public green space, and loads of annoyingly healthy-looking people.
bench with cool backrest
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jq x many
rob is the king of signs. i find this one particularly disturbing.
